Hi everyone, I'm a newbie here and this is my first post 
ok so here goes..I play in a 5 piece band (drums, bass, keyboards, guitar & vocals) covering many genres of music (Rock, Jazz, disco, country, blues, pop etc..) so we perform in Pubs, clubs, weddings, corporate functions etc.. I'm looking to upgrade our PA system which consists of 2x15" Alto TS218 subwoofers and 2x TS215 speakers (all active) all running through a Yamaha MGP24x mixer & 5 Mackie thump 15a's for monitors. The band has backline amps but all DI into the desk including drums.
We're happy with the desk and subwoofers but I'd like to initially replace the Alto ts215's. Does anyone have any good suggestions as an alternative good quality PA speaker that could replace the Alto TS215's
I would say that I dont think the Alto speakers have great clarity for vocals etc.. I've heard Yahama's and JBL's reange of speakers and I think they sound clearer. Just wondered what other options there are out there.
Many thanks in advance
Cheers
Dunc
ok so here goes..I play in a 5 piece band (drums, bass, keyboards, guitar & vocals) covering many genres of music (Rock, Jazz, disco, country, blues, pop etc..) so we perform in Pubs, clubs, weddings, corporate functions etc.. I'm looking to upgrade our PA system which consists of 2x15" Alto TS218 subwoofers and 2x TS215 speakers (all active) all running through a Yamaha MGP24x mixer & 5 Mackie thump 15a's for monitors. The band has backline amps but all DI into the desk including drums.
We're happy with the desk and subwoofers but I'd like to initially replace the Alto ts215's. Does anyone have any good suggestions as an alternative good quality PA speaker that could replace the Alto TS215's
I would say that I dont think the Alto speakers have great clarity for vocals etc.. I've heard Yahama's and JBL's reange of speakers and I think they sound clearer. Just wondered what other options there are out there.
Many thanks in advance
Cheers
Dunc
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As the name implies, these are 18" subs.
Well, if you don't say what your Altos lack of, there's just guessing.
Did you hear them in an A/B comparison or just at some demo or event? A lot of the sound depends on the guy on the console.
No, they don't. They have a meager 1" VC. My guess is, they are crossed over way too high for the 15" but wouldn't survive at a lower XO. That ofcourse leads to a bad dispersion in the upper mids. I got the same idea of 12" tops but I wanted to hear first what's the problem before suggesting anything.
Thanks for responding guys. The Alto's I've always found dont give great clarity on the vocals no matter how much you EQ them and the 15's seem to pickup hi end of the bass and drums causing them to peak out and rattle/distort at different points. Even with instruments grouped and the volumes pulled back there still seems to hit the same issues hence I feel that I'd like to upgrade them to something better.
A bit of info on the Alto TS215's
Output Power - 1100W peak (700 LF + 400 HF) / 550W continuous (350 LF + 200 HF)
Low Frequency - 15-inch (382 mm) woofer, 2-inch (51 mm) voice coil
High Frequency - 1-inch (25 mm) neodymium driver with precision waveguide
Crossover - 2kHz
Maximum SPL - 129 dB peak, 126 dB continuous (dB-SPL @ 1 m)
Frequency Range - 43 Hz - 22 kHz (-10 dB)
A bit of info on the Alto TS215's
Output Power - 1100W peak (700 LF + 400 HF) / 550W continuous (350 LF + 200 HF)
Low Frequency - 15-inch (382 mm) woofer, 2-inch (51 mm) voice coil
High Frequency - 1-inch (25 mm) neodymium driver with precision waveguide
Crossover - 2kHz
Maximum SPL - 129 dB peak, 126 dB continuous (dB-SPL @ 1 m)
Frequency Range - 43 Hz - 22 kHz (-10 dB)
The problem being that 15"s really aren't great at midrange.
I'd sell those and pick up something like Yamaha DSR112s.
Chris
It al depends....
We recently made a PA speaker with 2 beyma 12P80nd's and A coaxial BMS horn on top.
the 12p80nd easely did 50Hz in a not so big box so crossing to 18" is no problem and you will have a great kick/punch for live music.
Now the BMS driver is ofcourse coaxial so maybe a little expensive.
A good 1" could work but then you need to cross the 12p80 high enough. Maybe put an extra lopass on one of the 12p80's to avoid combing.
You could still use 2 15" speakers also but then you need something (6-8") in between to fill up the gap.
This can work very good for vocals as the vocal sound will come from mostly one speaker.
But this can get expensive as you need more drivers.
A 2way 15" with tweeter doesn't work for live PA you will always have a gap or the highs will suffer.
We recently made a PA speaker with 2 beyma 12P80nd's and A coaxial BMS horn on top.
the 12p80nd easely did 50Hz in a not so big box so crossing to 18" is no problem and you will have a great kick/punch for live music.
Now the BMS driver is ofcourse coaxial so maybe a little expensive.
A good 1" could work but then you need to cross the 12p80 high enough. Maybe put an extra lopass on one of the 12p80's to avoid combing.
You could still use 2 15" speakers also but then you need something (6-8") in between to fill up the gap.
This can work very good for vocals as the vocal sound will come from mostly one speaker.
But this can get expensive as you need more drivers.
A 2way 15" with tweeter doesn't work for live PA you will always have a gap or the highs will suffer.
2k is definitely too high for a 15", it already beams very much there. A 1" tweeter is too small to keep up with the 15". You'll have to invest more to get a better sound and get relyable speakers. 12" tops are cheaper than 15" and you got subs, so a 12" with a bigger tweeter voice coil size will surely perform better.
To suggest something it's quite important where you live (country) because that determines the prices and availability of brands and models. EV, Yamaha and JBL should be available almost everywhere. How much can you spend on the tops?
To suggest something it's quite important where you live (country) because that determines the prices and availability of brands and models. EV, Yamaha and JBL should be available almost everywhere. How much can you spend on the tops?
Thanks for the advice Chris, I was looking at those online earlier. I also looked at the DBR range but they look to be entry level speakers.
Cheers
Thanks ICG. It seems the concensus is 12's rather than 15's so happy to go with that. We gig on a weekly basis although we all have full-time jobs so the gig money tends to go back into the band pot if we need it. As per Chris's suggestion I'm going to look at the Yamaha DSR112's.
Again thanks for all your help with this
It would be good to know what all you guys run for your PA'sCheers
I keep a DBR10 for parties and other applications where I wouldn't want to use the nice stuff. A drum monitor for a drummer with earplugs who keeps saying "more snare" is another.
On the positive side, it's proven indestructable so far.
On the negative side, it only sounds okay at moderate volumes. Probably the sort of levels you'd play for a demo in a shop. Push past that, and they get pretty congested (lots of additional mush) pretty quickly.
DBR12s might be worth a look, but I'd be aiming at an upgrade on your current stuff, hence my recommendation. If you're up for DIY, there are some options which will cheerfully annihilate any of these, but the drivers alone cost more than the commercial products. Then there's the amp racks, FIR processing, cabinets...
Chris
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